Category: Sports

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles earned the first three points of Group D of the ongoing FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina after an own goal by Guillermo De Rena and a smart finish by Samson Lawal steered them beyond Dominican Republic in Mendoza early Monday’s morning in the Mendoza of Argentina.

Ibrahim Muhammad’s shot had been firmly held by goalkeeper Xavier Valdez and Jude Sunday and Tochukwu Nnadi had threatened in the fore within the first quarter-hour, before Japanese referee Yusuke Araki opted to consult the Video Assistant Referee and then award a penalty to Dominican Republic in the 20th minute, after a tackle by Daniel Daga.

The resultant penalty was brilliantly converted by Edison Azcona.

Sunday, Nnadi, Fago Lawal, Samson Lawal and Muhammad all doubled their efforts with onslaughts launched towards the opposition, but goalkeeper Valdez was brilliant on the day, especially in tipping over Sunday’s dipping shot from outside the box in the 37th minute.

Defender Solomon Agbalaka, who headed the goal that sank hosts Egypt at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in January, attempted a similar effort in the 58th minute but found Valdez capable. From a dashing run in the 61st minute, substitute Emmanuel Umeh should have done more than place the ball in the keeper’s waiting hands.

Daga, Sunday and substitute Haliru Sarki all tested the keeper in a second half dominated by Nigeria, but Samson Lawal was very alert to smell blood and capitalize on a defensive lapse by the boys from Dominican Republic to score Nigeria’s winner in the 68th minute. This was a minute after Jude Sunday had the ball in the net from a flowing team move, but it was ruled offside.

“We are happy with the three points though we wanted the boys to win by a higher margin as goals advantage do matter along the line in a competition such as this.

“The next two matches will be much tougher and I expect the Flying Eagles to also show sterner stuff,” said NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi who watched the encounter at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza.

Next up for the two-time runners-up of the FIFA U20 World Cup is a clash with Italy at the same venue on Wednesday evening. A draw will most certainly guarantee a place in the knockout rounds for the Flying Eagles, ahead of their final group phase encounter with Brazil in La Plata on Saturday.

Leadership

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi will play in Saudi Arabia next season under a “huge” deal, a source close to the negotiations told AFP on Tuesday.

“Messi is a done deal. He will play in Saudi Arabia next season,” said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity and without naming the club.

“The contract is exceptional. It’s huge. We are just finalising some small details,” added the source, who is not authorised to speak to media.

Asked about the comments, Messi’s current club Paris Saint-Germain simply noted he remains under contract until June 30.

A separate PSG source said: “If the club had wanted to renew his contract, it would have been done earlier.”

The 35-year-old World Cup winner was suspended by Qatari-owned PSG last week for an unauthorised trip to Saudi, where he is a tourism ambassador.

Messi’s expected arrival in the oil-rich kingdom follows in the footsteps of his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who joined Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr in a massive deal in January.

Ronaldo’s agreement to June 2025 is said to total more than 400 million euros ($439million), making him the world’s highest paid athlete according to Forbes.

Both deals are being bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), one of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds with more than $620 billion in assets, the source said.

“The negotiations didn’t take as much time as the ones with Ronaldo. As we now know the recipe to contract world-class players,” said the source.

“It’s Saudi Arabia that brought him not a specific club. The Money comes from one place — PIF.”

Ronaldo’s arrival has not had the impact Al Nassr would have hoped for on the pitch.

They have lost top spot in the Saudi Pro League table and are out of the running in the King’s Cup and Super Cup.

Messi, who turns 36 in June, has had two lacklustre seasons in Paris after a glorious era at Barcelona where he won four Champions League and 10 La Liga titles, and is still worshipped by the fans.

The record seven-time world player of the year, joining a mouth-watering attack featuring Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, scored just 11 goals in his first season as he helped PSG to a routine Ligue 1 title.

But PSG have got no closer to a coveted maiden Champions League victory, bowing out twice in the last 16 even with the illustrious Argentine in the line-up.

Frustrations boiled over last week when black-clad PSG protesters let off flares and sang hostile chants targeting the underperforming Messi, Neymar and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti.

The angry scenes contrasted with Messi’s career-crowning moment in December, when he led Argentina to a breathless World Cup final victory over Mbappe and France in Doha to fill the biggest gap in his resume.

Qatar’s emir draped him in a traditional bisht robe at the trophy ceremony, a reminder of the fossil-fuel riches pouring into football and Messi’s bank account via PSG.

However, Messi is also a highly paid tourism ambassador for Qatar’s neighbours and sometime rivals Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter that is attempting to diversify its largely single-stream economy.

AFP

Victor Osimhen’s second-half equaliser against Udinese sealed Napoli’s first Scudetto title in 33 years.

The Nigerian, leading the race for the Italian Serie A golden boot, netted in the 52nd minute to cancel Sandi Lovric’s first-half strike, a goal that sent fans into raptures in Naples.

Needing just a draw to scoop their first domestic crown since 1990, Napoli’s dreams of landing it seem to be fading away when Lovric scored early on.

But Victor Osimhen’s leveller was enough to bring the Scudetto back to southern Italy’s biggest city for the third time.

Luciano Spalletti and his team will receive an emotional welcome when they return to Naples, where the partying is set to continue to until at least their next home fixture against Fiorentina on Sunday evening.

It was appropriate that Osimhen was the man to take Napoli over the line as the Nigeria striker has had the best season of his career and been key to Napoli’s historic charge to glory.

Osimhen’s title-deciding strike was his 22nd goal in 28 league appearances and rightly caused bedlam among the massed ranks of away fans who took over the Dacia Arena in Udine.

Napoli’s 16-point lead over second-placed Lazio leaves them with a month-long parade between now and the end of the season which will allow their long-suffering supporters to fully unload more than a generation of frustration.

AFP

Manchester City took control of the Premier League title race as Kevin De Bruyne scored twice in a dominant 4-1 win over leaders Arsenal to close in on retaining their crown as English champions on Wednesday.

Arsenal hold a two-point lead at the top of the table but City have two games in hand, meaning Pep Guardiola’s men can afford to lose one of their remaining seven matches and still claim a fifth title in six seasons.

The Gunners’ challenge to win the league for the first time in 19 years had already come off the rails prior to their trip to the Etihad as Mikel Arteta’s men have now failed to win in their last four games.

But for the first time this season they were truly outclassed as City flexed their muscles.

The arrival of Erling Haaland has brought a new dimension to a side that was already the dominant force of the English game.

Haaland set a new record of 33 Premier League goals in a 38-game season deep into stoppage time to take his tally in all competitions for the campaign to 49.

But the Norwegian showed there is more to his game than goals with a sublime touch that set De Bruyne away to curl the opening goal beyond Aaron Ramsdale after just seven minutes.

Arsenal never recovered from that nightmare start and were fortunate not to be blown away before half-time.

Ben White’s last-ditch block denied De Bruyne an almost carbon copy of his first goal after being set free in behind by Haaland.

Ramsdale then single-handedly kept Arsenal in the game and Haaland at bay with a hat-trick of saves from the towering 22-year-old.

But there was no reprieve when John Stones headed in De Bruyne’s free-kick in first-half stoppage time and a VAR review adjudged the England defender was onside.

Ramsdale continued to win his battle with Haaland after the break when the City striker galloped clean through from Ederson’s long ball.

But Arsenal lost the war as Haaland teed up De Bruyne once more to find the bottom corner via a nutmeg on Rob Holding on 54 minutes.

Holding has been the scapegoat for Arsenal’s defensive woes in recent weeks as he has struggled to replace the injured William Saliba.

Arteta’s men have now conceded 10 times in their last four games and face a huge challenge to raise themselves in the final weeks of the campaign to keep any sort of pressure on City.

Arsenal did at least get on the scoresheet four minutes from time through the unlikely figure of Holding when the centre-back smashed home.

But even if there is an Arsenal response, City look imperious as they close in on not only a third consecutive Premier League title, but a treble.

A meeting with Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals appears the biggest hurdle next month with a FA Cup final against local rivals Manchester United to follow on June 3.

Haaland provided the final flourish with virtually the last kick of the game when he finally got the better of Ramsdale to move past Mohamed Salah’s previous record of 32 Premier League goals in the 2017/18 season.

AFP

Nigeria has been paired with Brazil in Group D of the 2023 U-20 World Cup, following the draw for the competition held on Friday in Zurich, Switzerland.

Known as the Young Selecao, Brazil have won the competition five times.

The Flying Eagles, one of the four African representatives for the competition billed to hold in Argentina later in the year, also have Italy and the Dominican Republic as opponents.

Coach Ladan Bosso’s side qualified for the tournament after clinching bronze at the U-20 AFCON held earlier in the year.

Another African representative and continental champions Senegal were pitted in Group C alongside Japan, Israel, and Colombia.

In Group E, South Americans Uruguay are up against Iraq, England, and Tunisia while Group F has France, Korea Republic, The Gambia, and Honduras.

Host nation Argentina, Uzbekistan, Guatemala, and New Zealand are all in Group A.

USA, Ecuador, Fiji, and Slovakia will do battle in Group B in South America.

This year’s competition will run from May 10 to June 11 and Nigeria will be aiming to become only the second African country after Ghana to land the trophy.

Twice, the Flying Eagles have reached the final in 1989 and 2005. In the latter, the West Africans lost to 2-1 to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentine side.

On a day that world-governing body FIFA marked exactly 100 days to the biggest FIFA Women’s World Cup finals in history, Nigeria’s Super Falcons spanked World Cup co-hosts 3-0 in a friendly in Antalya, Turkey that also marked a third consecutive win for the nine-time African champions.

Captain Onome Ebi, who is heading to her sixth FIFA World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand, headed the Super Falcons in front after 34 minutes at the Mardan Sports Complex, turning the game around after the Ferns had put some pressure on the Nigeria defence in the first quarter-hour.

Spain-based forward Rasheedat Ajibade missed narrowly with a left-footed shot in the 21st minute, but there was no stopping the inspired Ebi 13 minutes later as she nodded in a cross by Toni Payne.

Jennifer Echegini, strong on the left side of the Nigeria defence, made it two for the Super Falcons in the 48th minute after some excellent wing play by Michelle Alozie.

Hannah Wilkinson came close to reducing the tally in the 62nd minute but goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie intervened quickly to keep the scoreline at 2-0.

The Super Falcons continued to launch onslaughts into the Ferns’ half of the field after Gift Monday replaced Asisat Oshoala and Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene came in for Toni Payne, and Glory Ogbonna replaced Michelle Alozie.

Power forward Desire Oparanozie, returning to the fold after 18 months, had the last laugh with a typical goal in added time, holding up the ball and slicing past the goalkeeper even with a defender stuck on her.

The Falcons have now scored six goals in their last three matches, conceding only one.

At the FIFA World Cup finals (from 20 July to 20 August), Nigeria will play in Group B against co-hosts Australia, Republic of Ireland and Canada.

(Leadership)

Napoli’s Victor Osimhen has been ruled out of this week’s Champions League quarter-final first leg with AC Milan after failing to recover in time from a thigh injury picked up on international duty.

Napoli’s star player and Serie A top scorer had been in a race against time to play in Wednesday’s fixture at the San Siro.

The Nigeria striker did not take part in team training on Tuesday, doing individual work in the morning session, and he was left out of the squad announced on Tuesday before Luciano Spalletti’s outfit travel to Milan.

Taking Osimhen’s place could be Italy international Giacomo Raspadori who did participate with the rest of the squad in Tuesday’s training.

He is Napoli’s only fit striker as Italy’s champions elect also announced on Tuesday that Giovanni Simeone had suffered a hamstring injury.

Simeone had come on for Raspadori as a second-half substitute in Napoli’s 2-1 win at Lecce on Friday before having to leave the field injured in the final 10 minutes.

(AFP)

Nigeria’s Super Eagles came tumbling down the ladder in the new FIFA ranking released Thursday, falling down five steps from the previous 35th position to occupy 40th spot in the world.

The team also fell out of the top five in Africa, occupying the sixth position due the home defeat inflicted on them by less fancy Guinea Bissau in Abuja last month.

In the last three rankings released, Nigeria had been on steady decline. They dropped from 32 to 35 in October and now 40.

Meanwhile, six years after topping the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, Argentina are once again at the summit of world football. Recent friendly wins against Panama (2-0) and Curaçao (7-0) helped the world champions dethrone Brazil (3rd, minus 2), who paid a high price for defeat in their friendly against Morocco (2-1).

Not only did A Seleçao surrender top spot, but they also saw France (2nd, plus 1) move ahead of them. Les Bleus’ ascent to second is down to back-to-back wins in UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying against the Netherlands (4-0) and Republic of Ireland (1-0).

Outside the leading trio, there were no other movers among the Top 10. Belgium (4th, -) remain just outside the podium places, closely followed by England (5th, -). In fact, the swapping of places by Senegal (18th, plus 1) and Denmark (19th, minus 1) were the only other notable changes in the Top 20.

Further down the Ranking, however, there has been no shortage of movement, with the strides made by Serbia (25th, plus 4), Algeria (34th, plus 6), Egypt (35th, plus 4), and Scotland (36th , plus 6) among the most significant. No less impressive is the progress of Romania (46th, plus 6) and Canada (47th, plus 6), who moved into the Top 50 at the expense of Mali (53rd, minus 8) and Saudi Arabia (54th, minus 5).

However, the most improved side in this edition are the Central African Republic (122nd, plus 10). By twice beating Madagascar, at the time ranked 30 places above them, Les Fauves du Bas-Oubangui rose 10 places in the global standings, outperforming other notable movers such as Namibia (106th, plus 7), Malaysia (138th, plus 7) and The Gambia (120th, plus 6).

(Leadership)

Super Eagles and Napoli star striker, Victor Osimhen, has received the trophy for the best young player prize at the 2022 Globe Soccer Award.

The former Lille of France forward beat Gavi and Valverde to scoop the prize in a ceremony held at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai in November 2022.

In a post on his Twitter handle on Wednesday, Osimhen said he just received the trophy which he won two months ago and displayed it in a photo accompanying his post.

“Just Receive The @Globe_Soccer Award For The Power Horse Emerging Player Of The Year,Thank You For The Recognition,And To Those That Have Been Supporting Me Through The Years,I Appreciate Y’all.GOD Is The Greates,” the Nigerian international wrote.

Following the winter break, Osimhen continued with his top form in the Italian Serie A, scoring one of the goals in Napoli’s 2-0 victory over Sampdoria on Sunday.

The goal made him the first player in the league to score 10 goals so far in the season and ensured Napoli remained top of the Serie A table with 44 points ahead of Juventus and AC Milan who both have 37 points each.